The Pilgrimage of Joel Andrews: Aging in the Autobiography of a Yankee Farmer

Abstract

Autobiographical writing offers a vast and virtually untapped resource for the historical phenomenology of aging. This essay interprets the autobiography of Joel Andrews—an aging Yankee farmer whose life spanned the period from the American Revolution to the end of the Civil War. We attempt to recreate the poignance and integrity of this ordinary man's struggle with aging and death within the context of his own historical circumstances and religious beliefs. In particular, the essay argues that Andrews' autobiography both reflects and helps accomplish his central task in old age: the religiously sanctioned transition from physical to spiritual man. Andrews' experience provides an interesting contrast to contemporary ideas about health and vitality in old age.

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